James Earle Fraser (American Sculptor, 1876 to 1953)
James Earle Fraser spent his boyhood on the prairies of South Dakota. He studied at the Chicago Art Institute and in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and the Academies Julian and Colarossi. In 1894, before he was seventeen years old, he created what is undoubtedly one of the best-known works of American sculpture, End of the Trail. It won him a $1,000 award and the particular notice of one member of the American Art Association’s jury, Augustus Saint-Gaudens. He joined Saint-Gaudens as an assistant and remained a part of his community long after opening his own New York studio. Fraser exhibited an 18 foot high plaster version of End of the Trail at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. The statue won the Exposition’s gold medal and became popular overnight.
Fraser received major commissions throughout his career; among these was the design of the Indian Head (Buffalo) nickel, first issued in 1913. He created heroic statues and memorials, including the equestrian group on the Arlington Memorial Bridge Plaza in Washington, D.C., the Navy Cross and the statue of Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia. Fraser was the first recipient of the Saltus Medal Award from the American Numismatic Society and many other honors.
Information courtesy of Rago Arts, May 2007.
After James Earle Fraser completed his studies at the Chicago Art Institute, Ecole des Beaux-Arts and Academy Julian, he was invited by the famous sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to join his Paris studio as an assistant. In 1902 Fraser opened a studio in New York City and later taught at the Art Students’ League. Among his many accomplishments, he designed the buffalo nickel for U.S. Treasury Department and earned a commission for his most famous work “The End of the Trail” at the San Francisco Exposition. Fraser earned critical acclaim for many his sculptures of President Theodore Roosevelt, including the marble bust for the U.S. Senate, Roosevelt Monument at Santiago, Cuba and equestrian statue before New York State Memorial.
Information courtesy of Neal Auction Company
In addition to his famous 1894 sculpture “End of the Trail”, Fraser also created many of America’s great public monuments, including the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a large number of monuments, statues and architectural sculptures in our nation’s capital.
Information courtesy of New Orleans Auction, August 2008.